Sir Georg Solti, KBE (/?d??rd? ???lti/; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was an orchestral and operatic conductor, best known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-serving music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Born in Budapest, he studied there with Béla Bartók, Leo Weiner and Ern? Dohnányi. In the 1930s, he was a répétiteur at the Hungarian State Opera and worked at the Salzburg Festival for Arturo Toscanini. His career was interrupted by the rise of the Nazis, and because he was a Jew he fled the increasingly restrictive anti-semitic laws in 1938. After conducting a season of Russian ballet in London at the Royal Opera House he found refuge in Switzerland, where he remained during the Second World War. Prohibited from conducting there, he earned a living as a pianist.After the war, Solti was appointed musical director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 1946. In 1952 he moved to the Frankfurt Opera, where he remained in charge for nine years. He took West German citizenship in 1953. In 1961 he became musical director of the Covent Garden Opera Company, London. During his ten-year tenure, he introduced changes that raised standards to the highest international levels. Under his musical directorship the status of the company was recognised with the grant of the title "the Royal Opera". He became a British subject in 1972.In 1969 Solti was appointed music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a post he held for 22 years. He restored the orchestra's reputation after it had been in decline for most of the previous decade. He became the orchestra's music director laureate on his retirement in 1991. During his time with the Chicago orchestra, he also had shorter spells in charge of the Orchestre de Paris and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.Known in his early years for the intensity of his music making, Solti was widely considered to have mellowed as a conductor in later years. He recorded many works two or three times at various stages of his career, and was a prolific recording artist, making more than 250 recordings, including 45 complete opera sets. The most famous of his recordings is probably Decca's complete set of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, made between 1958 and 1965. Solti's Ring has twice been voted the greatest recording ever made, in polls for Gramophone magazine in 1999 and the BBC's Music Magazine in 2012. Solti was repeatedly honoured by the recording industry with awards throughout his career.
Had two daughters, one of whom is the actress turned director Claudia Solti.
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He was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1969, knighted in 1971, and British citation in 1972 for his services to music.
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Awarded the Frankfurt Music Prize in 1992.
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His wife, Valerie Pitts, was a BBC television announcer and occasional actress. When she married him she gave up her career and became Lady Solti.
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Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1991.
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Knighted in 1971.
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Orchestra conductor. He received 32 Grammy Awards, which, at the time of his death, was the record for an individual.
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Naturalised British
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
99 Homes
2014
performer: "Vorspiel Das Rheingold" - as Sir Georg Solti
1987
2014
performer: "The Ride of the Valkyries" - uncredited
Liberal Arts
2012
performer: "Tannhäuser: Overture" - as Sir Georg Solti
Mildred Pierce
2011
TV Mini-Series performer - 1 episode
WrestleMania XXVII
2011
TV Special performer: "The Ride of the Valkyries" from "Die Walküre"
Eat Pray Love
2010
performer: "Der Hölle Rache Kocht In Meinem Herzen" - as Sir George Solti
Snow White
2009
TV Movie "Scherzo Kräftig, nicht zu schnell"
Norbit
2007
performer: "Wagner: Ride of the Walkyries from Die Walküre" - as Sir Georg Solti
Jarhead
2005
performer: "Ride of the Valkyries" - as Sir Georg Solti
Domino
2005
performer: "Bach Matthauspassion BMV" - as Sir Georg Solti
Closer
2004/I
performer: "Bella vita militar!", "Non v'e piu tempo, anici", "Di scriverni ogni giorno", "Eccovi il medico, signore belle!", "Dammi un bacio, o mio tesoro" - as Sir Georg Solti
Birth
2004
performer: "Die Walküre: Erster Aufzug" 1856
Look at Me
2004
"Soave sia il vento"
Good Morning, Night
2003
performer: "Marcia trionfale"
Freddy Got Fingered
2001
performer: "Ride Of The Valkyries" - as Sir Georg Solti
Ready to Rumble
2000
performer: "Lohengrin Prelude, Act III" - as Sir Georg Solti
Analyze This
1999
performer: "La donna é mobile"
Le bassin de J.W.
1997
performer: "Götterdämmerung" - as Sir Georg Solti
Anna Karenina
1997
performer: "Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, op. 74 Pathetique", "Swan Lake", "Eugene Onegin", "Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 35", "Song About Alexander Nevsky" - as Sir Georg Solti
Thieves
1996
performer: "O ew'ge Nacht, wann wirst du schwinden?" - as Sir Georg Solti
Casino
1995
performer: "J.S. Bach Matthäuspassion BMV" - as Sir Georg Solti
Immortal Beloved
1994
performer: "Missa Solemnis in D Major, Op. 123", "Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 'Kaiser Emperor'", "Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 'Eroica'", "Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61", "Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67", "Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 'Pastorale'", "The Thieving Magpie La gazza ladrà: Overture", "Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125", "Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92" - as Sir Georg Solti
Café au lait
1993
performer: "Walkürenritt" - as Sir Georg Solti
The Heartbreak Kid
1993
performer: "Requiem: Introitus", "Requiem: Lacrimosa" - as Sir Georg Solti
Coda
1987
TV Movie performer: "Elektra"
Aria
1987
performer: "Rigoletto extracts" - as George Solti
Mascara
1987
performer: "Salome"
Critical Condition
1987
performer: "THE RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES"
Apocalypse Now
1979
performer: "The Ride of the Valkyries"
Nosferatu the Vampyre
1979
performer: "Richard Wagner: Rheingold" - as Sir Georg Solti
Great Performances
1976
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Anna Karenina
1997
music director - as Sir Georg Solti
Great Composers
1997
TV Series documentary conductor - 1 episode
La traviata
1994
TV Movie conductor - as Sir Georg Solti - Music Director Laureate
Immortal Beloved
1994
musical director - as Sir Georg Solti
Die Frau ohne Schatten
1992
TV Movie conductor
Otello
1992
TV Movie conductor
Simon Boccanegra
1991
TV Movie conductor
Die Zauberflöte
1991/II
TV Movie conductor
Requiem Mass
1991
TV Special documentary conductor
Un ballo in maschera
1990
TV Movie conductor - as Sir Georg Solti
Great Performances
1990
TV Series conductor - 1 episode
Eugene Onegin
1988
conductor - as Sir Georg Solti
Der Rosenkavalier
1985
TV Movie conductor
Wagner
1981-1983
TV Series conductor - 10 episodes
A kékszakállú herceg vára
1981
TV Movie conductor
Hänsel und Gretel
1981
conductor
Les noces de Figaro
1980/II
TV Movie conductor
Falstaff
1979
conductor
Arabella
1977
conductor
Music on 2
1971
TV Series conductor - 1 episode
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
1969
TV Movie conductor
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Wie es ihr gefällt - Cheryl Studer, eine amerikanische Sopranistin
1996
TV Movie
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Maestro or Mephisto: The Real Georg Solti
2002
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Solti: The Making of a Maestro
1998
TV Movie
Himself
Great Composers
1997
TV Series documentary
Conductor / Himself / Conducted by: BBC Symphony Orchestra
Lo + plus
1996
TV Series
Himself
Charlie Rose
1995
TV Series
Himself
La traviata
1994
TV Movie
Himself - Conductor (as Sir Georg Solti)
The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts
1993
TV Special
Himself - Honoree
Great Performances
1976-1993
TV Series
Himself / Himself (conductor)
Die Frau ohne Schatten
1992
TV Movie
Himself - Dirigent (as Sir Georg Solti)
Kiri Te Kanawa
1991
TV Special
Orchestra!
1991
TV Mini-Series
Himself
Die Zauberflöte
1991/II
TV Movie
Himself - Dirigent (as Sir Georg Solti)
The South Bank Show
1991
TV Series documentary
Himself
Requiem Mass
1991
TV Special documentary
Conductor
Solti's Bartók in Budapest
1990
TV Movie documentary
Conductor
The Maestro and the Diva
1990
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Conductor
Un ballo in maschera
1990
TV Movie
Himself - Musikalische Leitung (as Sir Georg Solti)